


64 moments

by shesthekingofnewyork (residentiallyensnared)



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-04-01
Packaged: 2017-11-29 17:18:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/residentiallyensnared/pseuds/shesthekingofnewyork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sixty-four prompts, most 200 words or less, centered around Jack Kelly and Katherine Plumber. Some may be explicit, but most will not be!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 2 AM

It’s two in the morning, and you should have both been asleep hours ago. She has to be up in two hours if she wants to finish her story for this morning’s paper, and you should be ready to go work, yourself, within the next three. Even so, and even being exhausted, you’re both still up. She’s talking, quietly, about anything and everything, and you can’t help but get lost, running your fingers through her hair, your attention much more focused on her voice than what she’s saying. It’s only when she stops speaking and you can feel her breathing evens out as she relaxes in your arms that you decide it wouldn’t hurt to get some shut-eye of your own.


	2. Metaphor

Jack is like a lion, Katherine thinks. After all, he gets everyone to rally around him. He’s strong, he’s proud, and he’ll defend anyone he loves to the end. But that would make him just as much a bear, or a wolf, and as she crumples up her third draft of this article, she groans. A quarter-million words in the English language, and none of them could ever begin to describe Jack Kelly.


	3. Sky

The fire escape, for what it was, certainly managed to be more than the sum of its parts. Twisted, damaged wrought-iron with holes in the platform and a bit of give, when you leaned against the railing. Still, it was on the fire escape that Jack and Katherine first fought. And it was there that they first kissed. And it was there that they would now, a year later, stand at five in the morning with cheap coffee and a blanket, watching the sun rise in the sky over the city that hadn’t woke yet.


	4. Lost

There was something special and intimate about getting lost in the city, huge as it was. Jack brought his sketchbook, Katherine lugged around her camera, and they left before daybreak. The aim was to be lost by dusk. If they succeeded, it was because they found a dark alley, or an obscure rooftop. If they didn’t return home by early morning? It was because somewhere along the way, they had gotten completely lost in each other.


	5. Degrees

“It’s eighty-eight degrees, Jack, not a hundred. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t kill you to put a shirt on.” “Yeah? And if it did? My death would be on you- I don’t see anyone else tellin’ me it’s important,” Jack replied, and there was something in his grin that implied he knew- Katherine was just complaining for the sake of it.


	6. Opposite

It was far too easy to say they would never work. The heiress to The World, and the boy who would stop at nothing to shut it down. She had everything, and he didn’t have a penny to his name. They were lady and the tramp. It was all too simple to point out how unalike they were. But anyone with half a mind could see the similarities. The passion, the drive, the dreams, and the love- and they just needed the other to set themselves free.


	7. Passions run

They were both passionate, in everything they did. In everything they fought for- and they were equals in that. They fought for rights, and they fought with each other, and they fought for their friends. So who could really be surprised when hands were tangled in hair, skirts were being pushed aside, buttons were being nimbly undone, and lips were meeting lips and skin and sweat, that the passions ran high in the privacy of their apartment, as well?


	8. Connection

He never made the connection. He never made the goddamn connection. How could he be so stupid?   
Pulitzer’s daughter. He had just fallen for Pulitzer’s daughter. And she knew he couldn’t do that. And she let it happen anyway- she ENCOURAGED IT.   
She betrayed him.   
And that hurt so much more than it should.


	9. Lull and Storm

There hadn’t been many storms that year, and the first one that hit the city hit hard.   
Jack never imagined in a million years that he would live to see Katherine Plumber scared of something. He knew she’d protest. She “is not afraid”, “the thunder’s just loud”, “the lightning surprised me”, “the rain is heavier than I expected.”  
But in the end, whether she’s afraid or not, Jack can’t help but notice how little she protests when he pulls her into his arms, and kisses her hair. She doesn’t say a word when he pulls up their blankets, opting instead to settle against his chest and close her eyes. In return, he stays quiet for her, until the rain on the window lulls her to sleep.


	10. Children

“It’s definitely your turn to go take care of her.” Katherine whispers, and Jack groans in response, reluctantly rolling over in bed. “‘Don’t remember the last time you got up at three in the mornin’ to see what the nightmares are about... You owe me one.” he adds, but he still kisses her forehead and pulls on a shirt.   
There hasn’t been a single thing thus far that Jack and Katherine couldn’t do together, and being parents wasn’t going to be the exception.


	11. Murmur

“You’re sure it’s okay if I’m here? I can go- I’ll sneak back over tomorrow, it’s really nothin’ at all-” Jack begins, stepping lightly off the fire escape and slipping into Katherine’s bedroom, attention divided between her and the door, wary. The girl shakes her head and pushes the covers off from over her, unable to keep from smiling when she sees him. It’s been a week since they visited each other- far too long. “Shh. I’m sure, Jack, just stay quiet about it.”   
“Hey- I’d call it courteous of me to ask, you know.” he responds, and he keeps his voice quiet as he takes a seat on the edge of her bed, extending his arm and feeling himself relax. She moves in close to him, fitting perfectly against his side.   
They can’t risk being caught by her father. Sneaking him into her bedroom was always hard, and more than a little bit scary.   
But soon enough, her lips were pressed to his, and though their voices couldn’t rise above a murmur for the rest of his visit, it was more than worth it.


	12. Project

She didn’t want to work with him. He was cocky, he was impossible, and he never said more than three words to her without turning it into something suggestive. He was always distracted, and there was no doubt in her mind that if not for David, Jack wouldn’t even be passing journalism, let alone being paired with her to edit pages for the final. 

He, on the other hand, was all too pleased to work with her. Katherine was wicked smart, her off-handed responses to his advances proved that. She was dedicated- she worked harder than anyone. She was distracting, he couldn’t pay any attention to their lectures without his eyes flickering to her, and the way she’d narrow her eyes at her paper and run her fingers through a stray curl. 

This would not be an easy assignment.


	13. Lonely

Katherine Plumber grew up lonely. She was, for the most part, isolated. She would have made friends, and easily, were she ever given the chance, but that wasn’t what her family had planned for her. She would sit down. She would be quiet. She could write and report on what they said she could (flower shows), but she would learn to be a proper lady. It was rare she’d meet someone her age- and even rarer that she wasn’t introduced to them as nothing more than a potential suitor. She spent her nights writing, or reading, or thinking, but always alone.

But one day, she met Jack Kelly. 

And things began to change. 

They weren’t friends from the beginning, but there was something there. An undeniable attraction, even if it was spotted with skepticism and frustration. 

It was hard, and it was complicated, but it was nice. For the first time, Katherine had someone to look forward to seeing in the morning. 

With Jack came the strike. A story to cover, research to do. People to meet and interview, goals to accomplish, equality to be won, and dreams to be realized. 

Now, she had things to do during the day. She didn’t spend her time re-reading books, or sitting for hours in a dark theatre only to come out with a paragraph and a half about a dance show. She shadowed Jack, and she shadowed his friends. She listened to them talk, and heard them demand equality and rights. It didn’t take long for her to decide- she was going to fight with them, and she was going to help them win.

With Jack came friends. He was clearly a leader, yes, but he maintained friendships with these boys like the best of them. Jack came to respect Katherine, and to her surprise? So did his friends. 

And suddenly, her nights weren’t lonely. Her nights were spent with card games in the alley, and with finding out just how high of a rooftop she could climb onto. These boys listened to her when she reported her findings to them, just as she listened to and reported on their concerns and demands. They fought and they argued, but just like that, she knew a dozen kids by name, and she wasn’t shy to say “hello” on the street.

But most importantly, with Jack Kelly came someone to believe in. 

At his worst, Jack was moody. He was impossible to deal with, he never listened. He was angry, and he was hurt. They argued every day. She rolled her eyes and he never hesitated to challenge her every idea. Katherine knew he was hurt.   
But on occassion, Katherine would catch him at his best. At his best, Jack was kind, courageous, sincere, and funny. He was a hopeless romantic, at heart, and that was plain to see. He would sketch on whatever paper he could find, laugh at Crutchie’s jokes, catch her eyes across the room- and smile. When they worked together, there was an occassional brush of his hand against hers, the faintest flush creeping onto his cheeks when she caught him staring. She had to admit it- she’d grown fond of him. Over the weeks, that initial attraction had turned into something more. They spent more time together, up on the fire escapes, discussing plans in alleys in broad daylight. There wasn’t a name for what they had, but they certainly had something. She’d never say it- not to him, and not out loud- but she’d gotten attached. 

She’d fallen in love with the way he’d listen intently and speak passionately, and the way his palm felt, rough against hers. She loved it when his eyes lit up while he read an article she just published. And she was certain that, no matter where she went in life, or what happened after this strike ended, she would never, ever forget how it felt the first time he pulled her close and kissed her. After all, nobody ever forgot the first time they fell in love.

Katherine Plumber may have grown up lonely, but after meeting Jack Kelly, that would never be a word one could use to describe her.


	14. Linger

They never had much time together. If it wasn’t her curfew, it was the boys needing something, or Katherine really needing to get back to her desk before her boss caught her out, or Dave requesting an opinion right then and there. But none of that changed the way Jack took Katherine’s hand and seemed unwilling to let go at the end of the night, or the way Katherine would pull him aside when she thought nobody was looking, and kiss him. Those kisses were soft and sweet and intimate, more often than not, and the amount of time they had to spend with one another couldn’t change that- or the way they lingered against each other, pressed close, long after they should have broken apart.


	15. Charm

There’s something absolutely infuriating about Jack Kelly, Katherine thinks, and she’s almost certain she’s figured out what it is.   
His charm.  
She can take his arrogance in stride and still work with him. She can look past his ego, and how his mood seems to change every five seconds. None of that is what gets her all worked up when she has to confront him about details on his story for the paper, so it must be the charm.  
Jack is charming to a fault. Stupidly so. None of what he does should work on any girl in her right mind, as Katherine considers herself to be, but it does. All he has to do is smile, call out a name, and he’s got the attention of whatever girl has caught his eye, that day.   
But Katherine is not going to fall for that, and she never will.   
So why, when she interviews him, does she find herself spending more time studying the line of his jaw and the way he moves his hands when he speaks and the way he gives her that stupid, stupid smirk when he catches her looking than actually taking notes on what he has to say?


End file.
